Fearmongering with a false narrative of rising crime, Republicans continue to push hard “law and order” agendas in defense of “democracy,” while the Biden administration and Democrats pledge to fund policing, issuing classic reformist reforms we know will never end the violence of policing. Right now, we can’t help but see the parallels between Memphis 2022 and Minneapolis 2020, both cities of resistance withsimilar efforts to policing reformism and professionalization.
And we can’t help but connect the intersection between the now-two-year struggle in Atlanta to stop Cop City, a $90 million, over 85-acre training fortress that escalated when cops killed an Indigenous Venezuelan, queer and non-binary protestor and forest protector, Tortuguita, earlier last month, to the increased training proposed across the country.
After over a month of loss after devastating loss, as more of us are once again moving into the streets to resist policing, we must once again soberly ask ourselves: what will it take to concretely move the needle toward a world without police? CR turns to a couple of our past anti-policing campaigns for recommendations & possibilities forward. We examine the current landscape of policing right now and reflect on our past anti-policing campaigns, ending the use of gang injunctions in Oakland through Stop the Injunctions Coalition (2010-2015), successfully defunding Urban Shield (2013-2018), and passing an initiative for Care Not Cops (2017-2020) and disbanding Portland’s gang policing unit in 2020. We see opportunities in this moment to propel abolition forward through:
Concerted campaign organizing
Bold, "Shrink-and-starve" strategy and actionable abolitionist demands
We hope you read and share widely our full analysis of the landscape and recommendations on our website. We hope these stoke the fire of all our comrades to stay the course in this protracted struggle for PIC abolition with CR, to defend demands to defund policing when under implicit and explicit scrutiny and attack, to harness our rage and collective grief into piercing long-term strategy and to seize this moment to its full potential to propel our struggle forward.
Onward for a world without policing,
-Critical Resistance
Policing & Militarism on Campuses:New Chart for the Fight!
CR's Abolitionist Educators Workgroup released this version of the organization's reformist reforms vs abolitionist reforms to policing chart, this time for anti-policing organizing on school campuses. Check it out, grab a free download from our website and share widely. More resources from CR's Abolitionist Educators workgroup here.
Train with Critical Resistance: Work with CR to develop your own anti-policing campaign!
In 2020, CR released a new organizers' toolkit for developing winning campaigns to abolish policing. Check out the toolkit on our website here, and if you and your organization would like CR's support developing your own campaign to against policing, request CR’s Toolkit Training to Develop Campaigns to Abolish Policing here.
Study "Defund Policing" with The Abolitionist: Check out Issue 35 of CR's The Abolitionist Newspaper!
From an analysis of where demands for defunding come from by Andrea Ritchie, to fighting cops off campuses in Oakland and Philadelphia, and much more - this issue is PACKED with useful analysis, reflections, organizing examples, strategy and resources to further the movement against policing in this moment in 2023 and beyond. Check it out on our website here and share widely!
